Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

to try and make this transition as smooth as possible. There is one other thing I would like to convey to the House from my discussions with Mr Devereux. He said in his statement that he would not be seeking to blame governments, either state or federal, for the decision that Detroit has made. They have—to use his words—confronted a perfect storm of events which are affecting their decisions about their future as a company, not just in Australia but in other parts of the world. The reality is that there are a number of things that have happened over a number of years which have made vehicle manufacturing in Australia less competitive than it once was. It is self-evident to us all that wages paid in Australia are much higher than wages in other parts of the world; costs in Australia are much higher than in other parts of the world. On the other hand, this is a country with a skilled workforce and the natural advantages of working in an environment where there can be a supportive community and people live in a pleasant lifestyle.

Ms Owens interjecting—

See this speech in context